Tight win helps Pakistan take series 2-0
Pakistan 176 for 8 (Mukhtar 62, Akmal 30, Mpofu 2-25) beat Zimbabwe 175 for 3 (Williams 58*, Sibanda 49) by two wickets,
Pakistan ODI squad Azhar Ali (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Shoaib Malik, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Anwar Ali, Hammad Azam, Imad Wasim, Yasir Shah, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Sami, Junaid Khan.There was a pitched battle at Lord’s but at the Gaddafi Stadium, yearning hearts were won over once again in a thrilling contest. Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by two wickets with two balls to spare, in another last-over finish, to clinch the T20 series 2-0 and, like Friday, the occasion got bigger than the game.
The unheralded batting talent of Bilawal Bhatti came to the fore with Pakistan needing 12 off the final over. He first smote Brian Vitori for a straight six and, after picking up two, carved the bowler through the covers for the winning runs.
Zimbabwe will feel hard done by with the result as they fought tooth and nail with patches of excellent batting and fielding. However, the home side edged the game at the right moments – like the last two overs of the Zimbabwe innings or Shoaib Malik’s tight four overs which kept Zimbabwe’s score down to 175 for 3. Mukhtar Ahmed‘s second successive fifty was also important, while the Lahore crowd kept Pakistan, in the game with their noise.
Chasing 176, Pakistan lost their first wicket in the fifth over when Ahmed Shehzad chopped the ball to mid-off for Vusi Sibanda’s first of three catches. Shehzad and Mukhtar Ahmed had added 44 runs, but it was nothing like their dominating 142-run stand in the previous game.
Mukhtar, however, continued to bat confidently, finding boundaries regularly even as debutant Nauman Anwar and Shoaib Malik fell to a catch at long-on and a run-out, respectively. Mukhtar hit boundaries through point, third-man and fine-leg in the second over before an onslaught against Graeme Cremer in the eighth over, in which the legspinner conceded 19 runs.
He reached 50 off 33 balls but in the 14th over, holed out to long-on off Sikandar Raza’s bowling, with Pakistan needing a further 59 runs off 39 balls.
Shahid Afridi entered with usual fanfare but lasted just three balls before skying Williams for a catch near mid-off. Raza fumbled for a moment but did not let go of the chance.
Zimbabwe kept picking up wickets, even as Pakistan batsmen kept themselves within touching distance of the required run-rate. Umar Akmal was leg-before to Chris Mpofu before Anwar Ali was yorked by Willams in the 17th and 18th overs respectively. Mohammad Rizwan, playing in place of Sarfraz Ahmed, holed out to a great running catch by Raza when Pakistan needed 15 off 11 balls.
Earlier, Zimbabwe started off soundly once again. Hamilton Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda added a second successive 50-plus opening partnership. This time Sibanda started off with a boundary before Masakadza joined in the third over. Masakadza smacked Bhatti for three fours in a row before slamming a straight six in the next over off Mohammad Sami. He took two more fours before falling to Malik’s accuracy, having made 39 off 32 balls. This was Zimbabwe’s third- highest T20 opening stand, and second-highest in terms of number of balls faced.
Sean Williams, promoted to bat at No 3 for the first time in his T20 career, got into action in the tenth over, finding two boundaries over long-on and midwicket. He kept finding fours and, despite the loss of Sibanda, for 49 in the 17th over, the pace of the innings didn’t dither. Williams reached his maiden T20 50 off 26 balls, with a swept six over cow corner.
Zimbabwe got 50 in the last five overs and the only thrust came from captain Elton Chigumbura, who struck Sami for three sixes in the 18th over: over long-off, extra cover and long-on. It looked like a bigger total than the first game was on the cards but Afridi gave four in the penultimate over and Sami took Chigumbura’s wicket at the start of the final over. Zimbabwe did score three runs more than the last game but a bit more connection between bat and ball in the last two overs would have given them a bigger total.
Meanwhile Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Sami have been picked in the Pakistan ODI squad for the first time in nearly two years. However, Saeed Ajmal was not among the 16 members to meet Zimbabwe in the three-match series in Lahore.
Malik hadn’t played 50-over cricket since June 2013, but has averaged 50.36 in List A cricket over 12 matches in the last two years, including a hundred and five fifties – made in successive innings.
Sami was last with the ODI team in June 2012. His last 12 months in domestic one-day cricket have fetched 19 wickets at an average of 23.63 and economy-rate of 5.10.
After a 0-3 defeat to Bangladesh, the Pakistan Cricket Board had hinted at making considerable changes. Ahmed Shehzad and has reclaimed his place as well. Imad Wasim, who made his Pakistan debut in the second T20 against Zimbabwe, is also part of the squad.
Umar Gul, Rahat Ali and Zulfiqar Babar have lost their place, though. So the fast-bowling workload will be borne by Wahab Riaz, Anwar Ali, Junaid Khan and Sami. Yasir Shah is the lone specialist spinner in the squad.
Opener Sami Aslam and middle-order batsmen Saad Nasim and Fawad Alam have been dropped as well. Umar Akmal, who was not picked for the Bangladesh tour, hasn’t been preferred for this series either.
Pakistan ODI squad Azhar Ali (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Shoaib Malik, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Anwar Ali, Hammad Azam, Imad Wasim, Yasir Shah, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Sami, Junaid Khan,,
Pakistan coach Waqar Younis has expressed concern at the way his side stumbled during their chases in both Twenty20s against Zimbabwe in Lahore, even though they emerged with victories in both games.
The Pakistani bowlers conceded over 170 runs twice and despite a solid chase from the top order had to crawl hard to make it. In the first match on Friday their pursuit of 173 was threatened by the loss of five quick wickets and on Sunday Pakistan won by just two wickets with two balls spares.
“We were fifth (in the rankings) and remained fifth,” Waqar said after the second win. “We were expecting that we would win this but never thought of such tight matches. We might have won but without the sense of jubilation. We are a better team than this. We actually have to improve a lot and the middle order and should have to take responsibility, so I can say that it didn’t delight me.
“A win is a win and I am proud of my boys but definitely there are quite a few loopholes which we have to fix, but overall if you ask honestly I am not satisfied because we are better than this and should have performed well and won it more convincingly.”
Mohammad Sami, who surprisingly returned to the national side from nowhere and was making yet another comeback, wavered with his line and length and collected 3 for 36 and 1 for 38 in two games. “In Twenty20 cricket it happens and you got to understand that the Lahore pitch was always flat and it’s not easy to bowl on it,” Waqar said. “But indeed we gave away a lot of runs in both matches, however the good thing was that we fielded well, but if you want to challenge other teams we have to do a lot and get better in many other departments.
“Sami should be given more time and any bowler should be given ample time to get settled. I think he bowled relatively well from the previously match. One over might have gone badly but it happens in the slog overs, but overall he started well. Looking forward in Twenty20 cricket I think the role of both (Sami and Malik) important as in middle order I still feel it’s tough to over-rely on youngsters.”
In the end, though, Pakistan swept the series, a win that marked the return of international cricket in Pakistan after six years of isolation. “These two matches obviously carried some weight as the way the crowd came in to support us it was just outstanding,” Waqar said. “It was a great response and nothing was hidden we all saw that, so has the entire world. It has cast a positive effect on the sovereignty of the country and gave out a positive message to the other countries. So I am proud of the nation, proud of the government and the crowd who came for us.”
Zimbabwean allrounder Sean Williams said his team were short of runs but taking a lot of positives. “Obviously they were a much stronger side than us,” he said. “I won’t say I am satisfied from today’s game but there are a lot of positives taken from these last two games.
“I feel we were short of runs in both innings but our fielding and discipline in the bowling haven’t been good. The first game was with no extras, the second we had extras, dropped catches and in the field things were going wrong. Obviously taking catches you win matches and what happened today was that we put down three catches … and smaller things makes a difference at the end.”
